No.

"Eleron, you aren't listening to me," the old man urged.

"She needs me, thats all I need to know," he remarked, adorning his armor.

"You can't save her. She's gone to the world now. Let her go."

Eleron slammed his sword on the table and turned to meet his mentor's gaze. "Is she alive?"

Malechai sighed and fiddled with his cane. "She may as well be dead."

Something shifted in the corner of his eye, shooting his conscious back to the present. Eleron swiveled to check behind him. A mirror hung on the wall. He must've just seen his reflexion. "You're losing your edge," he thought to himself. Eleron shook it off and rejoined his memory.

"You can't save her. No one can," Malechai roared.

"If anyone can save her, it's me," he roared back.

"This isn't just another test of strength."

Eleron bowed his head, closing his eyes. "I know," he whispered weakly.

"I don't think you do."

The words pounded through Eleron's head as he crept through the abandoned Castle of Baymen. Each corridor was littered with mirrors, thick with dust from neglect. After passing each one, he saw something slip through the glassy reflection. Figuring he was just seeing the tip of his sword swinging on his belt, he moved on through the halls.

Turning a corner, Eleron found what he was looking for. The tower door wore an old, corroded lock. He had expected the witch to hide his wife somewhere more protected. If saving her was so impossible, why had it been so easy? An abandoned castle with one locked door was hardly a challenge. Something was wrong. What had his mentor said?

"She is the Castle of Baymen. There's nothing to be done," Malechi shouted at Elderon when he burst out the door.

"Vowed when I married her 'Til death do us part'" he bellowed. "She's not dead yet, so I will not part from her yet."

"Boy, you don't understand. Just let me ex-"

"No," Eleron shouted. "I am tired of your words, old man."

He tugged on the lock. No use. Despite it's age and appearance, it was still locked. Eleron stepped back, took a deep breath, and charged the door. The wood splintered.He charged again. The door gave way and broke open to a spiral staircase. Eleron heard a slight knocking from the towers top. "Clarissa?" he yelled. The knocking turned into a frantic pounding. Eleron charged up the stairs, taking two at a time. "I'm almost there, just hold on!"

The top of the stairs opened to a small, vacant chamber. He searched for doors leading to somewhere else but only found a table and chairs clumsily arranged about the room. Where is she? Like the rest of the castle, the walls held various mirrors dirtied with time's cruelty. As he was about to run back down the stairs to search for Clarissa, he heard the pounding again. Worp, worp. Worp, worp.

A floor length mirror bounced on the wall. Eleron approached it slowly. The pounding stopped as he aligned with it. The dusty layer covered the view. Taking off his armored glove, he wiped away the soot until he saw a fine, pale face in the reflexion. The steel plated gauntlet crashed to the ground.Eleron's throat constricted in horror. "No," he choked, falling to his knees.

There in the reflexion, his wife lay on the floor, peering up at him with tear stained eyes. Clarissa's fingers stroked the glass where his had stopped clearing the dust. She was enclosed in the mirror. "You can't save her." The words struck him in the heart. "No," he uttered. Another tear traced her cheek. "No. There has to be something I can do," he said softly. Clarissa shook her head. She opened her mouth to say something but he couldn't hear her from the other side. "What?" he ask. She opened her mouth again to speak but stopped. Her lips quivered. She had realized that Eleron couldn't hear her. Covering her mouth and looking away from him, she cried into her hand. He had always hated to hear her cry, but seeing her silent sobs was worse.

"She's gone to the world now."

"No," he cried out in her suffering. Eleron rose from his knees, dripping in rage. "No," he screamed. He beat his fists against the wall. Pulling a chair from the table, he threw it, shattering it against the floor. Worp, worp. Clarissa was pounding on the mirror once again. He dropped to his knees again and looked back into the mirror. This time her face was beaten and bruised. She shook her head in a panic, tears caressing each swollen cheek.

"She is the Castle of Baymen," Malechai had said. Eleron assumed it had meant she was trapped in the castle but he was wrong. He should have listened.

She was the castle. The walls her body, the mirror her face.

Eleron looked at her more closely now. Her face had aged like castle itself. Her leg was snapped just like the door he had broken down stairs. Her body was dirty with silt like the mirrors. She was the castle. Clarissa no longer had a human body. He couldn't help her, couldn't take her home to safety. Eleron gazed into his wife's red eyes. "No?" he questioned. Reluctantly, she nodded. Yes.

Clarissa took a deep breath, as if to prepare for something. He narrowed his eyes, looking confusedly at her. Slowly, she lifted her arm and pointed to the door. "Let her go." "No, I won't leave you," he replied defiantly. She choked back another sob. Breathing deeply again, she pointed sternly toward the door again. "No, I won't leave you alone here," he urged. Eleron pointed to her left hand on the glass at her wedding ring. "I vowed 'For better or for worse, 'til death do us part'," he said. "You are not dead. I am not leaving."

To better see her face, he began to wipe more dust off the mirror and saw her change. A little spot on her face became clean. She touched her face, obviously surprised and feeling the change. She looked to him once more. What did you do?

Enthusiastically, Eleron gathered the pieces of the broken chair into his lap and tried to put it back together. Section by section, he restored the chair and in return, stitched the scratches on her face. Clarissa felt her face and looked to her hands, expecting to see blood and seeing none. "'In sickness and in health' I vowed." Excitedly, she looked to Eleron.

"I can't take you out of this castle, I can't return your humanity to you." He paused. "If anyone can save her, I can."

"I can't bring you home, but I can bring home to you." Eleron started pulling the table and chairs together.

"I'll live here and restored the castle," he said arranging them. The once vacant room began to look lived in.

Eleron rushed back to the mirror. Looking into her eyes he whispered sweetly, "We'll grow old together like we had always planned."

Tears continued down her face but now they were from joy rather than sorrow.

"You're not dead."

Clarissa raised her eyebrows questioningly. You're not leaving?

Eleron smiled. "No. No, I'm not leaving."